Tin felt hollow at home. Empty. A shell. He finally had finished coordinating all the print and online smear campaign that had started once he had returned from England. It was amazing thorough and was completely an inside job. Inside Medthanan family that is.
It brought out his worst traits, his one indiscretion, yet hid the reason he left Thailand, covering it in speculation and innuendo, making him seem like a recovering drug induced alcoholic with a sex addiction.
He sighed. He wished he was one of those three things. At least he would be having some sort of release. He had none. There was no way to do it safely. He couldn't drink to excess, drugs were dangerous, even if you did it in a foreign country and sex?
How could he even put anyone else at risk? Casual encounters were not his thing. God knows, if they were, his little brother would not be this lonely for this long or this limp. Time to put those thoughts to rest. He had work to do today.
He walked to the closet and smiled. When he was younger, he favored Hugo Boss, Hickey Freeman, Yves Saint Laurent, and PVH Corp. A good suit never goes out of style. He fingered the fabric. Some were of linen, some of the finest wool blends. None were of cheap polyester like that which Can wore. He reached in and pulled out one of his outgrown suits by Hugo Boss.
It was too small for him, but would fit Can, with tailoring. He smiled. Can would look amazing in it. The thin pinstripe would accent his smaller frame and make him look taller...
Why in the hell did that man keep entering his thoughts this way? He pushed the suit back into the closet. He kept the suit as a remembrance. He wore it the first time he signed a business deal for investing into a company. Now, today, he was going to be the CEO of that company.
Yesterday, he purchased the remaining shares needed, and owned 62% of the company. Not bad for a man of 22. Not the company he wanted, but he was now responsible for the working lives of 2200 hundred people. Not enough, either.
Was he greedy? No. He wanted what was his birthright. He would never forget his goal. He was maneuvering to be in a position to fight for it.
He took out the white Hugo Boss suit from a few years ago with the gold accents. Perfect. Just as he finished dressing, there was a sharp "tap" on the door. Only one person knocked like that and it wasn't his butler. It was Tul. He walked to the door and using the intercom, snapped, "What?"
"Still no manners? Father is pissed at you. He wants to see you, now." Tul left.
Taking a deep breath, Tin pulled on the fine, white socks and clipped them to the garters. He knew that he put them on in the wrong order but hell, he hated being without pants. He had been surprised too often by the staff or his brother to take chances anymore, even with the lock changed. Locks could be picked or broken.
Knocking politely on the door to his father's study, Tin opened the door entered. His father sat behind the big oak desk, a computer monitor to his left, a desk phone to right and a stack of papers in front of him. A couple of leather chairs were in front of the desk.
Tin walked up the desk and flopped into a chair. "You wanted to see me, Father?"
"Where in the hell have you been?" His father didn't berate him, nor wasted his breath on yelling. That was in the past. "If you are living here, Tin, then live here properly."
"I don't want to live here, Father. YOU asked me to live here, so here I am. I don't know why you did, you won't tell me. What I am telling you, is I will not sit at the same table and eat with him." Tin stood and walked to the door but paused before opening it. "The last time you saw me, you said life made your choice. I'm living with my choices."
He opened the door and walked out, to bump right into Tul, who was wearing the biggest smile on his face. "He's angry. He's angry."
Tin kept his face blank. "Who is? Father? No. Me? No. You? Yes, you lied again, Tul. Father had a business proposal for me. I turned it down. Are you loosing your touch at being a weasel?"
He smiled softly as he heard Tul's fist hit the wall. Score! Whistling softly, he walked to the foyer and pressed the butler's buzzer. "Tabi? Bring me the white oxfords. I'm going out now."
Tabi held the Berluti shoes as if they were made of gold (to him, they probably were.) He bent down, carefully wiped a bit of dust off the toe, and slipped one, then the other on Tin's feet and made sure the laces were secure. As he stepped back, he was struck by how handsome the young master was.
"Sir, you look very presentable today." He couldn't help his admiring tone.
"Thank you, Tabi. I have important things to accomplish." Tin started whistling again and walked out the wide, front door of the mansion to the waiting limousine .
Can stared at his professor in wide eyed disbelief. "What are you talking about? I have all my course credits. I am graduating this semester. WE, that's you and me, Prof, we reviewed everything when I re-enrolled."
"I am so sorry, Can. It's completely my fault. I completely forgot about the new policy that was put in place the start of this school year. You need one junior year math or English credit, not just a freshman credit. Listen, since it is my mistake, they will let you write just the exam."
The professor patted his hand. "Find a tutor and study hard, Can. I believe you can do this. You have the desire to do this."
Leaving the counselling office, Can felt like crying. Real men don't cry. Real men don't cry. Finally, after going in circles, he had enough. "Damn you!" He screamed, sitting on a bench. "Damn you all!" and burst into tears.
A limousine stopped in front of him but he was crying so hard, he didn't notice the tall man, dressed all in white. Everyone else did. Tin ignored the wolf whistle and went directly to Can. "Can, are you all right?"
Can briefly opened his eyes. He saw a friendly face and someone offering comfort and threw his arms around Tin's neck, scaring him. Tin had never held anyone crying before. Can held on for dear life and sobbed. His whole world crumbled with one sentence. He couldn't tell his ma he wasn't graduating again!
Tin had to move Can. He had a reputation. He was too visible in his white suit on the street with Can crying. With no other option, he picked him up and carried him to the limo, carefully placing him inside.
Once there, Can, again, threw his arms around the only warm body and cried. Tin had enough. "Can, snap out of it. What's wrong? Tell me, I can help." He gingerly patted his back like he had seen the nurse do to his nephew. "Talk to me."
Can gasped for air, the crying taking its toll. "I'm never going to graduate. Never."
"Are you failing?" Tin could help with that.
"No." It was sullen. "I could study harder. I am short a credit. I don't have money to enroll for another semester. I don't have money to hire a tutor. I don't have anything. I'll never graduate." He wailed. "How do I tell my ma!"
Tin's brow furrowed. "You should have been told what you needed for graduation."
"Of course, I asked. The professor screwed up." Tin was angry now. He patted Can's back lightly. "Let me drive you home. I think it will all work out. Don't worry about it."
"How can I not?" Can's full bottom lip quivered. Tin shuddered. Desire flooded his loins. What the fuck? He firmly put Can on the seat beside him.
"Your address?" He reminded the man. "I know things will be fine, so just go home and don't worry about it." The University Can attended was one of the Medthanan funded universities. If Tin showed up, he was sure that Can would not have any problems graduating under last year's requirements. It was, after all, the university's mistake.